Summer Tails

You know its rare that I say this but sometimes it really is nice not to travel. At least, not during the summer when you have a huge garden and patio and the roads are crowded and the airports stuffy. Of course, there’s the weather to consider. It might never get as hot as the continent, or as bone-dry as Southern Europe, but as we like to say, rain and stuff just tend to ‘blow over’ and not linger too long. Hence, a summer at home. Which also makes sense since this is likely our last summer in Norfolk. 

If its one of those cloudless days when the sun’s rays seem to bathe the world in a golden glow, and the grass is soft and the birds are singing, why be anywhere else. And I’ll have company. Prune on the patio, Suzi on the grass, till their dark fur is hot to touch and they sheepishly move into the shade. But often, we go on adventures.

Cooler days, the sun and clouds playing hide-and-seek, a wind from the wrong direction, or just restlessness. Reasons enough to jump in the car, and wander the Norfolk countryside. I’ll be singing loud to Spotify, the dogs trying their best to sleep through it. One-church hamlets, fields of wheat, long green grass and playful poppies. We catch glimpses, till we stop. One day, it was Potter Heigham. With its too low bridge, where we sat, me sipping tea, the dogs watching the ducks and boats.

Another day, Horning. A village of thatched cottages, rose colored farmhouses and bunting strewn between, as if there is always some kind of festival going on. We went to a tiny café, which told us dogs were welcome with well-behaved owners. Prune and Suzi deemed me to be behaving ok so far, so we went, and were served tea in cutesy cups and saucers, the scent of lavender in the air from the window boxes, boats on the Broads passing by.

On one occasion, I took them to Wroxham Barns. I’d visited over ten years ago, back when we had a similar idea one summer to explore closer to home. It felt smaller than I remembered, but I guess that was to be expected. Everyone loved the dogs, they got pats and smiles, I got a free piece of home-made fudge. And bought some doggie-ice cream, which my madams weren’t keen on. Still, I know they’d had fun, from their grins and the way they slept through my singing on the way back.

Sometimes though, its the small things that you will remember the best. Like the robin mother who decided to lay her eggs in the lavender plant outside. Right at cat-level, we didn’t have much hope for this family. Some how though, one survived, and we see him often flying about the garden, visiting the bird-feeder, instantly recognizable by the tuftyness of his feathers. We named him Bobbin.

And when I think of summers at home, I’ll think of no plans and freedom. Of washing waving in the wind. Of purple flowers and white butterflies. Of watching silver jet planes cross an electric-blue sky. Of bright sunshine and breezy days, of fluffy white clouds and rolling countryside. Of the crimson roses on the wall, of walking barefoot on the grass. Of picking and eating home-grown strawberries. Of boats, and birds and blackbirds singing. Of misty mornings and long afternoons, of twilight. But most of all, I’ll think of us. Day-dreaming in the sunshine with those two. Lucky.

Sometimes you don’t have to go far to realize that.

Potter Heigham and Horning are both lovely villages to visit. You can rent a boat in either village, which I talked about in one of my previous posts. Or, just buy a drink and watch the world go by. Wroxham Barns is free to enter and dogs are welcome, they have lots of traditional crafts to try/ buy and a farm for the kids. 

All photos taken on an iPhone 8. Enjoy the rest of the summer xx